The Gospel According to a Sitcom Writer


Book Description

Maybe Jesus was joking, the disciples didn't know what they were doing and the New Testament is a lot funnier than you might think. You would think it weird if someone suddenly ascended into heaven, right? Reading between the lines, do we detect a touch of rivalry between Peter and John? And surely the lack of parables in the latter's mystical tome is simply crying out to be redressed . . . In this sparklingly witty book, BBC sitcom writer James Cary gives us a new and liberating way of looking at the gospel as he entertainingly relates it to a modern context, with references ranging from Charles Dickens to The Vicar of Dibley. Cheerfully playing around with the text, he takes the Bible seriously but allows us to laugh at our own petty vanities and foibles - and be enlightened in the process. The Gospel According to a Sitcom Writer is ideal for anyone wanting to liven up their Bible reading and looking for new ways to be thrilled by this sacred text. It's also perfect for priests, pastors, youth leaders and all those involved in ministry and giving sermons, as James Cary shows using comedy and humour is a brilliant way to communicate the gospel. Warm, funny and full of brilliant insight and Christian humour, The Gospel According to a Sitcom Writer will make you laugh out loud and shake your head in awe. You'll never read the Bible the same way again.




The Sacred Art of Joking


Book Description

Every few weeks a politician, pundit or soap star causes a media storm by making a gaffe or tweeting a joke that some people do not find funny. Comedy is very hard to get right and yet we think it’s important to have a sense of humour and not take yourself too seriously. On the other hand, a sense of humour failure can lead to losing your friends, your twitter account, your job, your career and, in some cases, your life. James Cary knows about this. He is a sitcom writer who’s written jokes about bomb disposal in Afghanistan (Bluestone 42), defended comments about Islam by Ben Elton on Newsnight, been on a panel with radical Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary, sits on the General Synod of the Church of England and somehow managed to co-write episodes of Miranda. An odd mix, but one that makes him very readable. This entertaining, breezy book, explains how comedy works (with jokes and quotes) and gives much-needed insights into the controversy surrounding humour.




Lamb


Book Description

Everyone knows about the immaculate conception and the crucifixion. But what happened to Jesus between the manger and the Sermon on the Mount? In this hilarious and bold novel, the acclaimed Christopher Moore shares the greatest story never told: the life of Christ as seen by his boyhood pal, Biff. Just what was Jesus doing during the many years that have gone unrecorded in the Bible? Biff was there at his side, and now after two thousand years, he shares those good, bad, ugly, and miraculous times. Screamingly funny, audaciously fresh, Lamb rivals the best of Tom Robbins and Carl Hiaasen, and is sure to please this gifted writer’s fans and win him legions more.




The Gospel of John


Book Description

In the Resonate series the stories and insights of each book of the Bible are brought into conversation with contemporary voices of hope and lament. In this volume we journey through the Gospel of John with Paul Louis Metzger who wrestles with the question of what happens when God, who is love, comes to town and takes up residence among us.




The Gospel According to the Simpsons


Book Description

Examines the treatment of religion and spirituality in the animated television series, including its depiction of God, Jesus, heaven, hell, and prayer in chapters devoted to Homer, Lisa, Ned, Reverend Lovejoy, Krusty, and Apu.




The Gospel of Self


Book Description

Terry Heaton, who worked alongside Robertson at The 700 Club and became its executive producer, provides the inside story of how evangelical Christianity forced itself on a needy Republican Party in order to gain political influence on a global level. Using deliberate and strategic social engineering, The 700 Club moved Christians steadily into the Republican Party–and moved the party itself to the right.




The Gospel According to Disney


Book Description

In this follow-up to his bestselling The Gospel According to The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of the World's Most Animated Family, religion journalist Mark Pinsky explores the role that the animated features of Walt Disney played on the moral and spiritual development of generations of children. Pinsky explores thirty-one of the most popular Disney films, as well as recent developments such as the 1990s boycott of Disney by the Southern Baptist Convention and the role that Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg played in the resurgance of the company since the mid-1980s.




Mark: The Gospel of Passion


Book Description

In this second volume of the Biblical Imagination series, Michael Card leads us on an imaginative journey through the Gospel of Mark. Card teaches us to enter each scene with the eyes of faith, knowing that Mark intended us to be filled with passion at the sight of Jesus.




The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot


Book Description

The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot is the result of an intense collaboration between a storyteller and a scholar: Jeffrey Archer and Francis J. Moloney. Their brilliant work—bold and simple—is a compelling story for twenty-first-century readers, while maintaining an authenticity that would be credible to a first-century Christian or Jew. "The very name of ‘Judas' raises among Christians an instinctive reaction of criticism and condemnation...The betrayal of Judas remains...a mystery." —Pope Benedict XVI, October 2006 The Gospel According to Judas by Benjamin Iscariot sheds new light on the mystery of Judas—including his motives for the betrayal and what happened to him after the crucifixion—by retelling the story of Jesus through the eyes of Judas, using the canonical texts as its basic point of reference. Ostensibly written by Judas's son, Benjamin, and following the narrative style of the Gospels, this re-creation is provocative, compelling, and controversial.




The Gospel According to the Beatles


Book Description

The spiritual journey of the Beatles from fun-loving agnostics to drug-inspired mystics.